On Sunday my daughters and I ventured to Barnes & Noble, armed with a couple of gift cards and my membership card. (Whenever I go to a bookstore or the book section of a store, I can't help but smile as I see many of the books I've posted about or read about on other blogs. I want to tell everyone around that I'm a book blogger, but at most I tell a salesperson or two.) As far as purchases go, my daughter bought a joke book for her teacher's birthday, and I bought one book, Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, because I've decided that I must read a book by this author.

But, enough is enough! While I love getting new books, I already have so many books waiting to be read, and my gargantuan to-be-read pile is growing every day. It's getting to be ridiculous! Maybe I should impose a moratorium on getting any additional books.

Sometimes, I wish I were more like the protagonist, Liesel Meminger, in The Book Thief. She has only a few books, reads them one-at-a-time, lingers with each book, gets to know each one deeply, and greatly appreciates each book. Too often I feel as if I am racing through my books, not savoring them enough. The sight of so many books waiting to be read causes me to feel a bit anxious and guilty at times. How will I ever be able read them all? And yet, I keep entering book giveaways, I keep finding more books which interest me, I keep purchasing books, and lo and behold! I keep finding more books in the mailbox.

This is my fourth official Mailbox Monday, a terrific meme where readers share the books they've recently acquired, hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page. I'd ask what new books you've gotten lately, but I'm afraid that I'd discover intriguing new titles to add to my to-be-read pile!

You see how well we all understand and sympathize? There really isn't any hope for us. We try. Sometimes we cut back for awhile. But completely control ourselves? Never! Because we really don't want to. I'd rather be surrounded by a pile of unread books than have no books at all nearby.

I totally hear you about the book addiction! I have so many to be read that I am a little embarrassed at times. My husband told me that from now on, I have to get two books out the door for a new one to brought in, but I am still finding new books to covet everyday! I think it's just a hazard of being a book lover. Too much is never enough! I will wish you good luck with your moratorium though. Hopefully you will do better than I have!

I read a number of James Baldwin books maybe 40 years ago-I liked them all and will be very curious to see your reaction. I try to control my book addiction by not buying anymore books in a month than I read in the prior month. That means in February I can buy 11!

Suko, your post made me smile! I know you meant it, but really there is NO way you can say no and NOT add books to your TBR piles. This guilt/ anxiety is a part of any readers LIFE :) :)So cheer up :) :) and stop thinking about all of this, there is seriously no way out ;)

I feel the SAME way when I enter a bookstore. I love seeing all the books I've reviewed or seen reviewed and I want to tell everyone about my blog. Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way!

Luckily we don't have much money so buying too many books isn't a problem. LOL. That's awesome that you won so many books. I think total since I started entering giveaways I've won over 30 books. The trick is to do as many extra entries as possible and enter as many as possible. After entering a giveaway I search the net for other giveaways of that same book to up my chances even more.

However lately I have been careful to enter only a few because I have enough books to read.

Sadly, I also had to say no to a good-looking book today just because I'm already fully booked (hehe, it's my turn to pun) for the next couple of months. Oh if only I had more time and could read much faster :(